Open Forum #7 Deepen Cooperation on Governance, Bridge the Digital Divide

Summary

This forum focused on deepening cooperation in digital governance to bridge the global digital divide. Speakers from various organizations and countries discussed strategies for promoting digital inclusion and leveraging technology for sustainable development. The discussion emphasized three key themes: inclusiveness, innovation, and international cooperation.

Several speakers highlighted China’s efforts in expanding digital infrastructure and services, including nationwide 5G coverage and programs to bring connectivity to rural areas. Representatives from ICANN and Huawei Cloud shared initiatives to make the internet more accessible through internationalized domain names and cloud-based solutions for underserved regions. The importance of cloud computing as a foundation for digital infrastructure was stressed, with examples from Saudi Arabia’s investments in cloud services.

Speakers also addressed the challenges of digital inclusion for elderly populations, sharing strategies like simplified interfaces and training programs. The need to accelerate digital transformation across sectors was discussed, with emphasis on quantifying both tangible and intangible benefits of digital technologies. Participants agreed on the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation in global digital governance.

The forum concluded by calling for collaborative efforts to seize opportunities in the digital era and build a shared future in cyberspace. Speakers emphasized that bridging the digital divide requires ongoing innovation, inclusive policies, and international partnerships to ensure the benefits of digitalization reach all populations.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– Promoting digital inclusion and bridging the digital divide through infrastructure development, emerging technologies, and international cooperation

– China’s efforts and achievements in expanding digital access and capabilities, especially in rural areas

– The importance of cloud computing infrastructure and AI in accelerating digital transformation

– Addressing the digital divide for elderly populations through accessible design and education initiatives

– The need for multi-stakeholder cooperation in global digital governance

Overall purpose:

The goal of this forum was to discuss ways to deepen international cooperation on digital governance and bridge the global digital divide, with a focus on promoting digital inclusion and leveraging emerging technologies for sustainable development.

Tone:

The overall tone was collaborative, optimistic and forward-looking. Speakers shared positive examples and experiences from their countries/organizations, while emphasizing the need for continued cooperation to address remaining challenges. The tone remained consistent throughout, with all participants expressing a shared commitment to creating a more inclusive digital future.

Speakers

– Liu Yue: Moderator from China Academy of Information and Communications Technology

– Wang Jianchao: Deputy Director-General, International Corporation Bureau, Cyberspace Administration of China

– Theresa Swinehart: SVP of Global Domains and Strategy at ICANN, expert on global internet governance

– Echo Li: Vice President of Marketing and Solution at Huawei Cloud Saudi Arabia

– Talal Albakr: General Manager for Digital Advisory and Strategic Programs at Saudi Cloud Computing Company

– Dai Wei: Deputy Secretary General of the Internet Society of China, Deputy Director of China IGF

– Saad Haj Bakry: Professor from the College of Computer and Information Sciences at King Saud University

– Dai Lina: Deputy Director of the Journalism Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences

Additional speakers:

– Long Kai: Deputy Director-General, Information Development Bureau, Cyberspace Administration of China

– Huang Chengqing: Vice President of Internet Society of China and Director-General of China IGF

Expanded Summary of Digital Governance Forum

Introduction

This forum focused on deepening cooperation in digital governance to bridge the global digital divide. Speakers from various organisations and countries discussed strategies for promoting digital inclusion and leveraging technology for sustainable development. The discussion emphasised key themes of inclusiveness, innovation, and international cooperation.

Key Discussion Points

1. Digital Infrastructure and Inclusion

The importance of digital infrastructure as a foundation for development and bridging the digital divide was a central theme. Wang Jianchao, Deputy Director-General of the International Corporation Bureau at the Cyberspace Administration of China, stressed the need for global cooperation to address this issue. Theresa Swinehart from ICANN highlighted her organisation’s role in coordinating global internet infrastructure, emphasising the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach to internet governance.

Echo Li, Vice President of Marketing and Solution at Huawei Cloud Saudi Arabia, showcased Huawei Cloud’s global presence and shared specific cases of digital transformation. These included a weather prediction model for fisheries in Africa and an education cloud in the UAE. Li emphasised the critical role of cloud computing as a foundation for digital infrastructure and innovation.

Talal Albakr, General Manager for Digital Advisory and Strategic Programs at Saudi Cloud Computing Company (SCCC), highlighted Saudi Arabia’s investments in cloud infrastructure. He explained how SCCC is accelerating digital transformation in the Saudi market, stating, “Cloud allows agility and quick time to value… for any AI use case, you need three months to implement. Imagine with the legacy stuff, with the legacy you need at least 18 months.”

2. Emerging Technologies and Innovation

The discussion also focused on the potential of emerging technologies to drive innovation and development. Echo Li spoke about AI and big data applications across various sectors, while Talal Albakr emphasised how cloud computing enables the adoption of AI and other emerging technologies.

Professor Saad Haj Bakry from King Saud University provided insights on digital benefits and technology transfer. He raised a thought-provoking question: “Are we doing enough or are we utilising enough the beautiful digital technology for our benefits?” This self-reflective query encouraged a more critical examination of current digital transformation strategies.

3. Digital Inclusion for the Elderly

A significant focus of the discussion was on addressing the digital divide for elderly populations. Dai Wei, Deputy Secretary General of the Internet Society of China, discussed efforts to promote information accessibility and improve digital literacy among the ageing population. He highlighted initiatives to make websites and mobile applications more accessible to elderly and disabled users.

Dai Lina, Deputy Director of the Journalism Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, shared Shanghai’s comprehensive efforts to help seniors cross the digital divide. She stated, “Shanghai prioritises the elderly and disabled in the digital transformation of the city and strives to turn itself into a city with a better human touch.” Specific initiatives included:

– Establishing digital literacy classes for seniors

– Creating elderly-friendly versions of popular apps

– Providing one-on-one assistance for seniors at government service centers

– Maintaining traditional service methods alongside digital options

4. International Cooperation on Digital Governance

The need for international cooperation in digital governance was a recurring theme. Wang Jianchao highlighted China’s participation in global digital governance initiatives. Theresa Swinehart emphasised the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, stating, “We need to remember that the inclusive Internet involves all of us, and it should continue to be one that considers and hears the voices of all stakeholders who are involved and maintain and operate and use the Internet.”

Areas of Agreement

There was broad consensus among speakers on several key points:

1. The critical role of digital infrastructure, including cloud computing and internet governance systems, in fostering development and bridging the digital divide.

2. The importance of making digital services accessible and user-friendly for elderly populations.

3. The view of cloud computing as a crucial foundation for digital infrastructure and enabler of emerging technologies like AI.

4. The necessity of international cooperation and involving multiple stakeholders in addressing digital governance challenges.

Areas of Difference

While overall consensus was high, there were some differences in approach and emphasis:

1. Approaches to bridging the digital divide varied, with some speakers emphasising global cooperation (Wang Jianchao) while others focused on specific technological solutions like cloud computing (Echo Li and Talal Albakr).

2. There were differences in focus regarding the role of stakeholders, with Theresa Swinehart emphasising internet governance while Saad Haj Bakry stressed the general societal benefits of digital technologies.

Key Takeaways and Action Items

1. Continue efforts to expand internet access and digital infrastructure globally.

2. Develop more elderly-friendly versions of digital applications and services.

3. Increase investment in cloud computing infrastructure, especially in developing countries.

4. Provide more digital literacy training programmes, particularly for elderly populations.

5. Strengthen international cooperation on digital governance issues.

Unresolved Issues

Several important issues remained unresolved, including:

1. Balancing data sovereignty concerns with the benefits of global cloud infrastructure.

2. Establishing specific metrics or targets for measuring progress on bridging the digital divide.

3. Determining funding mechanisms for expanding digital infrastructure in underserved regions.

4. Addressing potential job displacement from increased AI and automation.

Conclusion

The forum concluded with a call for collaborative efforts to seize opportunities in the digital era and build a shared future in cyberspace. Speakers emphasised that bridging the digital divide requires ongoing innovation, inclusive policies, and international partnerships to ensure the benefits of digitalisation reach all populations. As Wang Jianchao aptly summarised, “To ensure everyone could avoid the express train of digital economy and share its benefits, it is urgent to deepen cooperation on development and governance, bridge the digital divide, and work together towards a brighter digital future.” The event concluded with participants gathering for a group photo, symbolizing their shared commitment to these goals.

Liu Yue: Afternoon, I’m Liu Yue from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, and I’m honored to be the moderator of this workshop. On behalf of the organizer, I would like to extend the warmest welcome and the most sincere thanks to all the guests attending the 2024 ICF Open Forum on Deepen Cooperation on Governance Bridges the Digital Divide, so you can choose Channel 3 for listening to our voice. Currently, a new wave of technology revolution and industrial transformation is rapidly unfolding, with the rising importance of digital governance at international, regional, and national levels. Last year, during the ICF in Japan, we hosted an open forum on digital governance, hoping that all parties would share responsibility and foster cooperation. Today, we gather again under the theme of Deepen Cooperation on Governance Bridges the Digital Divide, promoting the digital inclusion and the digital technology for good, as well as UNSDG. Today, the guests attending the forum include Mr. Wang Jianchao, Deputy Director-General, International Corporation Bureau, Cyberspace Administration of China, and Mr. Long Kai, Deputy Director-General, Information Development Bureau, Cyberspace Administration of China, and Huang Chengqing, Vice President of Internet Society of China and Director-General of China IGF. Also, we have representatives from the international organizations, think tanks, associations, and enterprises to make presentations at this forum. At the same time, we have colleagues hosting this forum online. Now, I’d like to invite Mr. Wang Jianchao, Deputy Director-General, International Corporation Bureau, Cyberspace Administration of China, to deliver his opening address. Please take the floor. Mr. Wang Jianchao, Deputy Director-General, International Corporation Bureau, Cyberspace Administration of China

Wang Jianchao: Distinguished SVP Mrs. Wayne Hart, distinguished DDG Mr. Long, VP Mr. Huang, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. First, on behalf of the Bureau of International Corporation, Cyberspace Administration of China, the organizer of this event, I would like to extend a hearty welcome and a warm greeting to all the participants. Currently, the digital economy, driven by emerging technology like AI, cloud computing, and big data, has become one of the fastest-growing, most competitive, and most innovative sectors in national economy development. To ensure everyone could avoid the express train of digital economy and share its benefits, it is urgent to deepen cooperation on development and governance, bridge the digital divide, and work together towards a brighter digital future. Under this background, we look forward to hearing the insights from all the delegates. It is well known that Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative. The three initiatives echo and reinforce each other, fostering widespread consensus and strong support within the international community for enhancing cooperation, tackling challenges, and creating a shared future. Guided by President Xi’s thoughts and visions, the Chinese government has continuously strengthened the top-level design and made overall arrangements and systematically advanced its efforts. Being committed to the people-centered approach featuring open operation, mutual benefits, and a living solution, we have made positive efforts to encourage in-depth involvement of government, industry, academia, and research sectors in global digital governance. Fostering the building of a community with a shared future in cyberspace. In recent years, China has committed to promoting connectivity as a crucial way to bridge the digital divide. At present, every city in China has achieved 5G network coverage, and we have brought fiber broadband and 4G-5G networks into deep mountain areas, historically enabling convenient Internet access in both urban and rural areas. China also has carried out 10 rounds of telecommunication universal services efforts, supporting the construction of fiber optical networks in 130,000 administrative villages nationwide and 89,000 4G and 5G base stations in rural areas. China persistently views innovation applications as a crucial driving force for development, positioning digital technology as a leading force in technological revolution and industrial transformation. China has been accelerating the development and application of the next generation digital and information communication technologies such as 5G, big data, and AI, while optimizing computing infrastructure layout and continuously strengthening the foundation for digital development. Significant strides have been achieved in expanding telecommunication universal services, narrowing the digital divide between urban and rural areas, and accelerating communication infrastructure development in rural areas. China has formulated and implemented information and communication industry development plans, driving network quality improvements and upgrades. Additionally, China has also supported enterprises actively participating in international infrastructure development to promote interconnectivity of digital facilities. China upholds solidarity and cooperation as a fundamental principle for advancing digital governance. We are committed to promoting global digital governance with the UN as the main channel, working with all parties to seek solutions for prominent issues in digital development and global digital governance and building international consensus. China has constructively participated in the whole process of the global digital compact negotiations. The GDC follows the prevailing trends of promoting digital development and cooperation in the world reflects the urgent call of all countries, especially global south countries. For efforts to narrow the digital divide and wipe out governance deficits and demonstrate the common aspiration of the international community to respond to digital communities of opportunities and challenges and build an inclusive, open, fair, and secure digital future through joint efforts and cooperation. The GDC also provides fresh impetus for global digital governance. Nowadays, changes of historical significance across the world are unfolding in ways like never before. Deepening digital governance and bridging the digital divide requires collaborative participation from all the countries and all the parties. On this occasion, I would like to put forward three points. Firstly, we need to pursue a common development. We should make joint efforts to advance openness and cooperation in digital governance and reach the dimensions of opening up and enhance the level of opening up. Efforts should be made to foster collaborative innovation in infrastructure development and digital technology, cultivate new driving forces through digitalization and propel new development with these driving forces. Secondly, we need to meet shared responsibilities. We should be committed to multilateral and multi-party participation, giving full play to the roles of various entities, including governments, international organizations, internet companies, and tech NICO communities, civil society, and individual citizens. We should work together to improve the international governance mechanism shared and governed by all, and facilitate the building of a fairer and more equitable global internet governance system. Thirdly, we need to share the benefits. We should stay committed to a people-centered approach, promoting tech for good and bridging the digital divide to increase people’s sense of gains from internet development, thereby accelerating the effective implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Digital Compact. Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, we’d like to take this forum as an opportunity to strengthen dialogue and communication, deepen understanding of policies, share practical experiences, and seek extensive cooperation. Let’s join hands together and promote collective efforts to boost the healthy development of global digital economy, and advance the building of a community with a shared future in cyberspace. Wish the forum a complete success.

Liu Yue: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wang. His opening address highlight Chinese key concepts and share the Chinese practice and achievements. And also, he proposed three recommendations to pursue common development to meet shared responsibility and to share the benefits. And his recommendation give us a very good reference and guidance. Now, we will move to the presentation segment with the first topic being Accelerating Digital Infrastructure Development and Fostering Global Digital Inclusion. In this session, we are honored to invite three distinguished speakers. And reminded to all speakers, each person will have eight minutes to speak. First, I’d like to introduce our first speaker, Mr. Teresa Swinhart, SVP of Global Domains and the Strategy at ICANN. As a leading expert on global internet governance, Teresa collaborates with community, contracted parties, stakeholders, and the policy makers to ensure broad and inclusive participation. And Teresa will present on working towards a more inclusive intent. Please take the floor. Welcome.

Theresa Swinehart: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you for having me and inviting me to this session. You can hear me okay? Yes, fantastic. Very good. So, the introductory remarks were excellent because they really touched on so many of the areas that we need to be working on. And accelerating the construction of digital infrastructure and promoting digital inclusiveness and development requires cooperation and it requires that we all work together on that. The internet has evolved and it keeps evolving. And it’s truly become the foundation for the digital society that we live in today and that we rely on. We have people who are participating remotely to these sessions as well and everything. This foundation allows us to build on the internet to implement initiatives that seek to ensure that the benefits of the digitalization are felt by all of its users. And we’ve seen over the years, and we saw during all the years, education online, health online, all these different initiatives and communicating with family members. So there’s opportunities on multiple levels, of course, plus the business opportunities. So ICANN’s role is limited in this area, in the inclusive nature of the internet, in the accelerating the construction, but we play an important role. And that is around the Global Unique Identifier System or how the addressing system works, how we communicate with each other, how your email is coming across. We coordinate, as we said, the Global Unique Identifier System that includes the DNS, the Domain Name System, IP addresses, and protocol parameters. And those comprise the components of the internet infrastructure and how we communicate with each other. We’re a nonprofit, public interest-driven organization, and we’re committed to building a globally unique, secure, interoperable, and inclusive internet. And there’s some things that we’ve been doing recently and over time and also through the contribution of many of the stakeholders, also in China and in many different parts of the world, who have technical expertise, governance expertise, business expertise that have contributed to all of this work. The few areas I’d like to highlight is the active involvement by the community in what is being referred to as the next round of new top-level domains. That is the introduction of new top-level domains, either to the right of the dot or for other scripts to the left of the dot, in that case. The new TLD program aims to expand the domain name space by introducing more generic top-level domains, or gTLDs, and affording that opportunity. The important aspect of this next round, though, is as the evolution of internationalized domain names, there is exceeding opportunity to introduce domain names in their own script, which is an important element to inclusivity. These new top-level domains are gonna serve a diverse culture, geographic language, and professional communities, and provide various communities and organizations the opportunity to create their own space online, which means, then, the ability for platforms to connect to that and have that. The other area I want to highlight is the area that is referred to as internationalized domain names. That is new top-level domains, not only in ASCII or Roman character sets, but supporting various language and various scripts, and that’s very important to an inclusive internet and the ability for people to use the language of their choice with a full experience of using that language on the internet. I also want to highlight that the program is paying very strong attention to the underserved and underrepresented regions and communities so they can obtain the necessary support if they want to run a desired TLD. So we’ve recently launched the Applicant Support Program. We’re tracking the applications that are coming in for that that will provide support for the whole experience. Another area of work is around universal acceptance, and what that means is when one has a top-level domain which exceeds more than two or three letters to the right or to the left of the dot, or is in a script that is not an ASCII script, the ability for that communication to be seamless across the system so the platform providers can provide that. Again, an important aspect of inclusivity. Next year, ICANN and UNESCO, United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization, are gonna collaborate on the annual universal Acceptance Day to create awareness around this, and it’s an opportunity to mobilize local, national, regional, and global communities and organizations to become more aware of what needs to be done to undertake this. This collaboration is intended to support and encourage Internet inclusivity and aims to continue the momentum surrounding awareness of what needs to undertake to have universal acceptance. We need to remember that the inclusive Internet involves all of us, and you pointed that out very kindly, and it should continue to be one that considers and hears the voices of all stakeholders who are involved and maintain and operate and use the Internet. It’s the only way we can make it work. Everybody has different expertise, different ideas. We need to do that. When all the relevant experts are at the table, having a say in decisions that are affecting the Internet, the solutions that are identified have a much, much higher chance of succeeding without inadvertently either fragmenting the Internet or not being possible to implement because one hadn’t thought about one aspect or another. None of us have all the expertise. We need to have a shared experience. So I encourage you to follow, participate, and spread the word about these projects in your regions and communities, and we’d like to work together with all interested parties to build a more diversified, multilingual, and inclusive Internet for all of us to benefit from. And I will apologize in advance. I do need to leave before the session ends. So I am very grateful. Thank you for accommodating us. Thank you very much, Teresa, and we hope to work with you and with your team and also the technical community to construct a more inclusive Internet.

Liu Yue: Thank you again. And next, let me introduce our second speaker, Mr. Echo Lee, Vice President of Marketing and Solution at Huawei Cloud Saudi Arabia. And Mr. Lee is playing a crucial role in planning and executing the public cloud region in Saudi Arabia, and he will present on leap to the intelligence with a better cloud. Please take the floor. Thank you. Hello. Can you hear me? Thank you.

Echo Li: So, first of all, thank you very much for CAC to host this forum, and thank you very much for Deputy General to invite me to come to this event. And today, I would like to share some of Huawei’s practice to how we can bridging the gaps for the digital services and bridging the gap between different countries, the digital capabilities. And so, first of all, I would like to give a short introduction about Huawei, what’s our current marketing progress for Huawei. Since it was born in 2017, Huawei Cloud has been expanding the territory in different industries, including the governments, the FSI, and the Internet industry, and it’s growing faster based on the support by our customers and partners and global individuals. I believe that this is one of the foundations for Huawei to achieve in the current stage. It is by the support by the different parties’ support. And if you look at Huawei’s global practice for accelerating the digital foundations, the first, I think, it is to building the regions globally. That’s a foundation how the Huawei Cloud can serve different clients in different countries. So, in the current stage, Huawei Cloud has been building our regions in global, 13 regions, and totally sum up, have 93 availability zones. And just in Saudi last year, we launched Huawei Cloud regions with three availability zones. By leveraging this region, we can provide the most advanced cutting technology by the cloud, the big data, AI, to serving different industrial needs. So, later on, I will share some of the cases where we are utilizing the data and AI technology to bridging the gaps between the countries, as well as to bring the benefit to individuals to different industries. One of the cases we want to share here, it is in one country in Africa. In that country, there are many fisheries that need to go to the seas. You know the climate is changing, the climate is changing a lot, and there’s a huge danger if they go to the sea without knowing what the climate is. And what we do is by providing the notice, the larger models, we call it Pangu Weather Larger Models, which is developed by Huawei, and we’re using that model to train and predict and to focus on the climate change or the weather changes, so that for the fishers, they will know one week ahead what the weather looks like, and they will plan their fishing activities. And the beautiful thing is, this kind of technology doesn’t like, in the old days, you need to set up a very hybrid, like HPC, like Hyper Cluster Computing, which is a huge investment, requires a huge investment from the government and from the companies. It just requires a few GPU servers, and then you can set up this larger model and ROM, and to serve the fishing industry. Another case I want to share here is about education. So we have been working together, like just now the lady, Ms. Teresa mentioned about, we partner with different partners globally to bring in the newest education technologies, and by leveraging the remote learning and online learning technology to serving the students in the Egypt and serving the students in the Africa, so that even though they are studying in the rural areas, but they still can enjoy the latest technologies and enjoy the latest education resources. Another case here I would like to introduce is in the UAE. So we work together with one of the entities, which is called AMCABO in the UAE, together to build an education cloud. So by this cloud, it consolidates all the necessary resources, and the platform, and the application, and also the up-to-date online courses. So to serve the students, the university students, as well as the basic education students. Sorry. Okay. So there’s another case, maybe some problem for the controller. There’s another case I would like to share here. It is one case for the FinTechs. As we know that financial inclusion is a very big topic nowadays, and we have been working together with the local partner in Myanmar, which is considered one of the most undeveloped countries in the world. We together to build up the payment platform, which from the 2018 to set up this platform, which is called KBZPay. And I’m personal to leading that system development. We work with a local partner to start from zero to develop this payment platform, so the users and the citizens in Myanmar, they can leverage the smartphone to do the cash-in and to do the cash-out and transfer money. Just in the pandemic period of time, that everything was shut down. So the people leveraging that application to transfer money to his relatives, to his family, and do the business. So now this platform become a national platform in Myanmar, which is serving more than 17 million users, and the day-to-day value transaction is huge. So we believe that this new technology can be really bridging the gaps between the most advanced countries and the undeveloped countries. Another case I want to share here is one case on the agriculture. As you know, China is also one of the large agricultural countries. So we have some of the advanced technology on the monumental IoT or advanced systems. devices, so we bring this application and devices in Africa, in other Americas, to implement by hosting on the cloud and provide this application to monitoring the crop by weekly, by hour, and we leveraging the AI technology to keep monitoring the growth status, so in case there’s any, I would say that there any disease happens at the crops, the farmer can immediately take actions to clean the diseases by leveraging this technology, and the beautiful thing is this technology will be hosting on cloud with the cost-effective cost to let the farmer have easily to enjoy the technologies. The final case I would like to share here is we know that with the vision of 2013 that Saudi is trying to develop different kind of the new industry, new economy, so one of the cases it’s in in Saudi that Saudi, one company in Saudi called Abax, they are trying to build a platform for the e-commerce, but they are not of the capability to build the platform, and we, together with the partners, to help them to build a whole e-commerce platform by leveraging the latest e-commerce technology of China and setting up the platform successfully in Saudi, and by leveraging the cloud that you can achieve very low latency, so the people in Saudi can enjoy the internet experience similar in other countries, and they can enjoy the latest way how to do the online shopping, they can even do the shopping by the online streaming. Yeah, that’s all for my presentation. At the end, I would like to emphasize the mission of the Huawei, that is to provide the digital to every person, every home, and every organization by building an intelligent world and an intelligent connection. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Liu Yue: Thank you, Mr. Eko Lee, and for your wonderful sharing several cases on the cloud infrastructure and this application for the digital area, and also we are sure that a good cloud for good. So I will introduce our third speaker, Mr. Mo Zhibai, and he comes from the Saudi Cloud Computing Company, and he is the general manager for digital adversary and the strategic programs. In this role, he provides executive adversary on digital and the cloud strategy, and oversees Alibaba cloud strategy program in the region, and he will present on accelerate the construction of digital infrastructure, promote a global digital inclusiveness and the development. Please take the floor, Mr. Mo.

Talal Albakr: Hello everyone, and thank you again for hosting me here. So I’d like to start with making a bold, if you like, statement that I really think that cloud is the way to build the foundation for the digital infrastructure, and the cloud is the only way actually to do that. And why am I saying this? Because as we go through what I’m going to present, you will see that cloud services and cloud platform become like electricity in a country, electricity in an economy, where there are fundamental needs for enterprises and for businesses. So if we look at the spend on the cloud, I’ve been going through different studies and different research, and one of the most conservative figures I found that cloud spending by 2030 is expected to reach 1.35 trillion dollars. I’ve seen studies that take it to 3 trillion and more. 40% of these will be from emerging markets. 40% of the spending will be from emerging markets. And when it comes to emerging technologies, 80% of emerging technology of AI will be actually run on the cloud. I’m just looking and figuring out that you’re not seeing my slides. So while they’re fixing the slides, I’ll just go through the material and not assume you’re seeing it. So the other part, what if a country or economy does not invest on cloud? I see there three risks. First, there is an opportunity risk, opportunity loss risk, because from what we’re seeing in research, and again conservative numbers in research, that for every one dollar invested in cloud infrastructure, the return on GDP is five times, five dollars. So imagine no investment. No investment will lead to a significant opportunity loss. The other part is the international impact, the international investment impact. As you know, countries today, cities today, are like companies. They compete. We compete for international investment everywhere, and countries who do not have the right investment in the digital infrastructure will have investment runaway. And we’ve seen examples of this. We’ve seen positive examples where we’ve seen investments going to Singapore, to Malaysia. We’ve seen recent announcements just because of the availability of the cloud infrastructure and the digital infrastructure. The other part of the investment and potential investment loss is the investment loss that is led or resulted by not having the cloud infrastructure, the disadvantage for the enterprises on the country. The disadvantage will be the enterprises in a specific country where there is no investment, they will not have access to the B2B, B2C, B2BC infrastructure that will allow them to compete in a cross-border commerce. The third one is the digital divide. So imagine a country or economy that does not invest on a digital infrastructure and having the disadvantage of not having the access to some of the cases my colleague mentioned on the digital health, the digital education, digital sports and others. So the hypothesis here, can you run this, that’s the right slide now, so can we run this, actually we’ve just gone through this so you can go to the next one, can we run all of this on legacy setup? And really it cannot be because by the time you put a digital infrastructure using legacy methods, by the time you go live, the infrastructure will be out of date. So cloud allows agility and quick time to value and the other thing cloud allows is the ease of investment. So when we talk about AI and cloud today, normally I would say to customers, enterprises or public sector entities that for any AI use case, you need three months to implement. Imagine with the legacy stuff, with the legacy you need at least 18 months, I would say, to build a data center, let alone to acquire infrastructure that sits on the data center. Then the other aspect is the data sovereignty. So 75% of today’s population are governed by some kind of regulation around data and personalized data. So this is something else that we need to take into account because when we say there is an enterprise advantage or economy advantage for the cloud, also we need to take into account the regulations that come with it. If we go to the next slide, so what did we do in Saudi taking into account all of this? So SCCC, the Saudi cloud computing company, came about there’s two slides ahead please. So Saudi cloud computing company came about with an investment it’s a joint venture. It’s a Saudi-Chinese joint venture that made us bring hyperscaler cloud capabilities to the kingdom. And towards the end of last year, as we saw calculated, we were able to capture more than 70 to 80 percent of the workload by having the cloud in-country, adhering to data sovereignty, but allowing the quick time to value. We go to the next one. So how did this joint venture work? And the reason I’m presenting this, because this is I think a significant experience that could be taken elsewhere as well. So there were three pillars to this. So the first pillar is the effective partners of this joint venture. So STC being the leader, the ICT leader in Saudi Arabia, with a huge enterprise and public sector reach. And the second part is Alicloud with a significant know-how and IP that we took into the market. The second pillar on this is being able actually to conform to all of the Saudi regulations, whether it’s the national cybersecurity or the CST regulation. And the third one, which is very important in there, is by having the right solutions tailored for the Saudi market, the right innovation to bring to the Saudi market. The other approach to add to this, to what we’ve done in this, that we looked at this with a holistic view. So we’re not bringing an infrastructure alone. We’re bringing with it the know-how, the ideation part, the implementation part, the tailoring and the customization part. So customer can realize the value of the investment they make. And add to this now AI. And we believe with AI we’re able to deliver more timely value by having the solution empowered by or powered by AI. Let’s go to the next one. So when we look at Saudi market, in Saudi we looked at key priorities. So as an emerging player in tourism, in sports, in the financial services, as a leader in e-government, we focused our investment around these industries, providing these solutions to these industries. And there we looked at use cases and there’s so many use cases that we tailored to the Saudi market across all of these. Covering quality of life, covering e-government and public sector, and covering the financial services, manufacturing and others. So my call to action, three points. Clouds provide agility and it provides the right time to value. Secondly, investment with the right partnerships and collaboration to lead the right results. And this is a timely investment that required so we leave no country behind and no economy behind. Thank you very much and we’re happy to share, we’re happy to discuss and we’re happy to talk about the experience and also share insight and also welcome any partnership that will help us enrich our offerings in Saudi Arabia. Thank you.

Liu Yue: Okay, thank you for your sharing on cloud, an important infrastructure in the digital world and its development with AI in Saudi market and its benefit the government and also the people here. And thanks all the three speakers in their brilliant presentation in the first topics. Now we will move into the second topic. Strength the innovation and the application of emerging technologies, bridge the global digital divide. In this part we also have three distinguished speakers. Please allow me to introduce our first speaker, Mr. Dai Wei, Deputy Secretary General of the Internet Society of China and he has extensive professional experience in Internet governance and the Internet based public welfare initiatives. And he also serves as the Deputy Director of China ITF and he will present on joint efforts for an aging-friendly and inclusive digital society. Please take the floor. Okay, thank you for the organizer for inviting me to this session. It is my

Dai Wei: honor. I’m Dai Wei from the Internet Society of China and today, this afternoon, I will share with you what the Internet Society of China has done for an inclusive and aging-friendly digital society. The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Places the goal of inclusion at the heart of all efforts in order to achieve the promise to leave no one behind. China is a major Internet country with a wide coverage of Internet infrastructures and user forming an exclusive digital society. Additionally, China also has a substantial elderly people. There are nearly 297 million people aged 60 and over by the end of 2023. Among this big number, there are about 170 million aging people using the Internet. So the digital technologies brought the convenience to our daily life and it changed our life and works so we can enjoy the services like online entertainment, online shopping, and online education and so on. However, please bear in mind that some digital divides still exist in the reality. For example, the elderly people cannot use the Internet as smoothly as the young people does because there are so many websites or apps. The interface looks very complex or the font is too small to read. To solve the issue of digital divide, it’s not only about access to the Internet but also how to make it easy to use. Therefore, achieving the goal of building an age-friendly digital society and narrowing the digital divide is not just a simple slogan but presents both formidable challenges and far-reaching significance. In recent years, the Chinese government has implemented a package of policies to tackle issues related to aging population, especially the law on the construction of a barrier-free environment enacted last year is the first legislation to address the importance to promote information accessibility. In line with the policy instruction, different stakeholders of the community had launched a series of approaches to improve the digital literacy of the aging group or facilitate the technical innovation of the related products. As the Internet Industry Association, the Internet Society of China started to reach to research and did a lot of works and things for the information accessibility from the year 2004. We are one of the organizations who firstly introduced the concept of information accessibility to the Chinese community and by follow-up conducted work and some such as a standard formulation and public education and training and the policy-making advice extra. In 2003, we launched the China Public Services Information Accessibility Action Plan to promote online voice reading assistance for keyboard operation and the virtual assistance technology to be used and deployed on the public services websites. The service platform won the champion of 2017 WSIS prize presented by ITU. From 2021, the Internet Society of China undertook technical guidance for the public service websites in nationwide to up… the interface or functions more easily to use for the elderly. Furthermore, we stress our cooperation with professional organizations such as China Association of Persons with Viral Disabilities and the China Association of Volunteers Helping Persons with Disabilities and the China Silver Industry Association. Because we take a lot of efforts and make some cooperation to take joint efforts to facilitate the program. Till now, we have promoted more than 30,000 public service websites to finish the information accessibility functions updated. Ladies and gentlemen, with the deepening of the global digital society and the development of aging society, it is commitment to let no one behind in the digital world. So in the future, we would like to work with you together and make more efforts and make more some cooperation in the future to promote an inclusive digital society for all.

Liu Yue: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Dawei. It’s sharing ideas on how to build a friendly and inclusive digital society and the experience from China and the Internet Society of China. Next, our next speaker is from the university, Mr. Saad Haji Bakri, a professor from the College of Computer and Information Sciences at King Saud University. He will present on promoting digital transformation toward development. Welcome.

Saad Haj Bakry: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. I am glad to be here with you, this beautiful collection that we are thinking together about the future of the digital world. The question I want actually to address is that are we doing enough or are we utilizing enough the beautiful technology, the beautiful digital technology for our benefits? I don’t want to ask you all this question. I’ll ask myself and say no, we are not. Why? Let’s go into the problem here and gradually from having a view of the digital world, digital benefits, digital transformation. If we start with the digital world, the digital world has a certain issue that we have to recognize. It is accelerating. The growth is not linear. The growth is accelerating. And we are now reaching to what we call the fifth industrial revolution. The cyberspace, of course, is serving us with all the information that we need worldwide. No borders. We need actually to utilize this for our benefits so that we can build what we call digital economy. Of course, the digital world, the digital technology provides us with storage, provides us with transfer of information, but the most important, it’s not only processing now, it’s also intelligence. So we have to use all of these because they provide us all the services, all information services with smaller devices, faster, cheaper, more intelligent, more secure with new opportunities. If we look at the governance of the digital world, we have various levels, starting from the personal level, from how I use the digital technology, how is there standards for that, is there rules for that. Organization level, of course, organization level, we have the ISO 27001002 for the security. We don’t have enough for the actual governance, the detailed governance. There is a small, of course, standard, but not widely known as the cybersecurity one. The national level, global cybersecurity index, the international level, the competition into that, we have all of these levels for the governance of the Internet. Now we move to the benefits. If we look at the benefits of the digital technology, we can see tangible benefits, we can see intangible benefits. Intangible benefits may save us some health problems. Like avoiding tension, avoiding something. And we have also, within these tangible and intangible, recursive benefits and non-recursive benefits. If we look at an example of a tangible benefit, of course, these benefits are for all. For individuals, for government, for business, for the whole society. But if we try to compute, for example, these with regards, for example, the remote work. Remote work, we can estimate the saving for one million employees working for 230 days per year. We can calculate the transportation cost from and to the work. And we can also calculate the saving of time, especially with the crowded areas of all cities of the world. If we do that, we can save approximately 38 billion Saudi Riyal per year, only for one million employees. Are we doing that? We are not doing enough. Maybe we should do something about that in the future. If we look at the technology transfer, technology transfer is not a matter of technology. It’s not a matter of having beautiful cloud computing. It’s not a matter of providing a new artificial intelligence that provides us with many answers. It’s important to look at a broad view. A broad view at the technology, the people using the technology, the organizations using the technology, the environment, the culture of all of these, the culture of the society, in other words, in addition to having a strategy for doing so, together with a time domain to do the improvement. How are we going to do the improvement? We can have all of these dimensions, the technology, organization, people, environment, into a strategy and try to develop over time using, for example, something like Six Sigma stages for continuous improvement. Finally, I would like to recommend that we need to do more about technology transfer. We need to do more about utilizing the technology for our benefits. Our benefits are going to be great. So please think technology, organization, people, environment, and have a strategy for development for the future.

Liu Yue: Thank you very much. Thank you, Professor Saad, for your insight on the digital world, the digital benefits, and the digital transformation. I think we will work together to promote digital transformation toward development. Our final speaker is Mrs. Dalina, Deputy Director of the Journalism Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. She is an active expert based in Shanghai, China. Her primary research interests include international governance of cyberspace, digital policies, and the political economy. She will present on how to help seniors cross the digital divide and adapt to a smarter society. sharing their practice and experience in Shanghai. Welcome, Ms. Tan. Okay, thank you.

Dai Lina: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Lina Dai from Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. It’s my great honor to be here with you at Riyadh IGF. First of all, please allow me to express my sincere gratitude to the organizers for inviting me to share a few thoughts on digital divide. Today, I would like to talk about the digital divide facing the senior citizens and our experience empowering the elderly with AI in Shanghai. As digitization accelerates, our life relies more and more on the online apps. But these seemingly convenient tools can also bring digital barriers to the elderly, such as mobile payments, online appointments, and hailing taxis with a mobile phone. This has sincerely eroded the rights of the elderly people to enjoy the benefits of digitalization as much as other age groups. Shanghai is one of the cities with the highest degree of digitization and the smart application in China. At the same time, it is also the country’s first group of cities to enter an aging society. And it is the city with the highest ratio of the elderly in China. In recent years, the ratio of the elderly in the population has continued to increase year by year. At the end of 2023, the number of elderly people aged 60 and above has accounted for 37.4% of the total population. Chinese government has released three important plans to bridge the elderly digital divide. To enforce these plans and help the elderly overcome the digital divide, Shanghai has accelerated the pace moving from helping the elderly with digital technologies to helping the elderly with AI tools. The AI era has widened the digital divide for the elderly. This includes the issue of access, use, and the knowledge gap. In 2021, under the guidance of Shanghai Municipal Office of Digital Transformation, the Shanghai Approach Digital Partnership Program was jointly initiated by local government departments, enterprises, citizens, and social organizations to address the problem of digital divide. The details are as follows. In order to address the issue of access, the plan requires software deployers to meet the needs of special groups and make applications more user-friendly. Shanghai issued the design specification for adapting Internet applications for the elderly and improving barrier-free facilities in Shanghai. Specific programs were initiated to develop senior citizen-friendly applications that cater to their needs, such as large screens, big font, voice guidance, simplified versions, one-click access, and so on. The application example is Shanghai Residence’s elderly-friendly version. In order to make applications more senior-friendly, the plan encourages equipment manufacturers to develop more programs and devices that are easy to use for the elderly. For example, services such as the one-click service for the elderly, which provides a one-stop service for medical care, car-hailing, and government policy information. The elderly can contact call centers in various districts through one-click phone calls, smartphones, television, and portable terminals, among other ways. By pressing one button, they can contact call centers and access corresponding service resources. To close the knowledge gap, the government has mobilized social forces through the Mutual Aid Partner Initiative to help elderly people who are not familiar with smartphones but have the ability and desire to learn. There are community information service assistants who are trained to provide relevant information services. The elderly people can attend training courses, hobby classes, close to their homes on the use of smart products. Young people, especially their children, are encouraged to help the elderly familiarize themselves with new equipment and technologies. A number of AI experience testers are selected, and opinion leaders are nurtured among the elderly to give full play to their roles and influence. The Shanghai Elderly Education Working Group Office directed the completion of a study manual entitled Digital Partnership Program, How to Use Smartphones as a Mac City with a High Ratio of Aged Population. Closing the digital divide is the call of the times and a brand new issue for the city’s digitization efforts at the same time. It is also a systematic project that concerns all aspects of the city and the well-being of all citizens. Shanghai prioritizes the elderly and disabled in the digital transformation of the city and strives to turn itself into a city with a better human touch. Above all, it’s a short, brief introduction from Shanghai. Thank you for your attention.

Liu Yue: Thank you, Mr. Dai. Dear guests, experts, ladies and gentlemen, our forum today is about to come to a perfect conclusion. Due to the limited time, I will have a very short ending. Thank you for all the valuable insight and the spirit of cooperation. Today’s discussion and speech can summarize to three key words, inclusiveness, innovation, and international cooperation. Finally, let’s work together to seize the opportunity presented by the Digital Network and the Intelligent World, contributing to the building of a community with a shared future in cyberspace, making the Internet better for people and the world, and stepping into a bright digital future. Thank you. This forum has now concluded. I think we are just a new start to the digital governance and to bridge our digital divide. Thank you. I will invite all the speakers and our distinguished guests to the stage. We will have a group photo. Thank you.

Agreement Points

Importance of digital infrastructure for development

speakers

Wang Jianchao

Theresa Swinehart

Echo Li

Talal Albakr

arguments

Global cooperation needed to bridge digital divide

ICANN’s role in coordinating global internet infrastructure

Cloud computing as foundation for digital infrastructure

Saudi Arabia’s investment in cloud infrastructure

summary

Speakers agree on the critical role of digital infrastructure, including cloud computing and internet governance systems, in fostering development and bridging the digital divide.

Need for inclusive digital services

speakers

Dai Wei

Dai Lina

arguments

Policies and initiatives to improve digital literacy of aging population

Shanghai’s efforts to make digital services elderly-friendly

summary

Both speakers emphasize the importance of making digital services accessible and user-friendly for the elderly population, highlighting specific initiatives in China.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers view cloud computing as a crucial foundation for digital infrastructure and enabler of emerging technologies like AI.

speakers

Echo Li

Talal Albakr

arguments

Cloud computing as foundation for digital infrastructure

Cloud enabling AI and emerging tech adoption

Both speakers emphasize the importance of international cooperation and involving multiple stakeholders in addressing digital governance challenges.

speakers

Wang Jianchao

Theresa Swinehart

arguments

Global cooperation needed to bridge digital divide

Multi-stakeholder approach needed for internet governance

Unexpected Consensus

Focus on elderly population in digital inclusion efforts

speakers

Dai Wei

Dai Lina

arguments

Policies and initiatives to improve digital literacy of aging population

Shanghai’s efforts to make digital services elderly-friendly

explanation

The strong focus on addressing the digital divide for the elderly population was an unexpected area of consensus, highlighting a growing recognition of this demographic’s specific needs in digital transformation efforts.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement include the importance of digital infrastructure for development, the need for inclusive digital services (especially for the elderly), the role of cloud computing in enabling emerging technologies, and the necessity of international cooperation in digital governance.

Consensus level

There is a high level of consensus among the speakers on the fundamental importance of digital infrastructure and inclusion. This consensus suggests a shared understanding of key priorities in addressing the digital divide and promoting digital transformation. However, speakers approach these issues from different perspectives (e.g., global governance, national initiatives, specific technologies), indicating a multifaceted approach to tackling digital challenges.

Different Viewpoints

Approach to bridging the digital divide

speakers

Wang Jianchao

Echo Li

Talal Albakr

arguments

Global cooperation needed to bridge digital divide

Cloud computing as foundation for digital infrastructure

Saudi Arabia’s investment in cloud infrastructure

summary

While Wang Jianchao emphasizes global cooperation, Echo Li and Talal Albakr focus on specific technological solutions like cloud computing to bridge the digital divide.

Unexpected Differences

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement revolve around the specific approaches to bridging the digital divide and the role of different stakeholders in digital development.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among speakers is relatively low. Most speakers present complementary rather than conflicting views, focusing on different aspects of digital inclusion and development. This suggests a generally aligned perspective on the importance of addressing the digital divide, with variations in proposed solutions and focus areas.

Partial Agreements

Both speakers agree on the need for broader involvement in digital development, but Swinehart focuses on internet governance while Bakry emphasizes general societal benefits.

speakers

Theresa Swinehart

Saad Haj Bakry

arguments

Multi-stakeholder approach needed for internet governance

Need to better utilize digital tech for societal benefits

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers view cloud computing as a crucial foundation for digital infrastructure and enabler of emerging technologies like AI.

speakers

Echo Li

Talal Albakr

arguments

Cloud computing as foundation for digital infrastructure

Cloud enabling AI and emerging tech adoption

Both speakers emphasize the importance of international cooperation and involving multiple stakeholders in addressing digital governance challenges.

speakers

Wang Jianchao

Theresa Swinehart

arguments

Global cooperation needed to bridge digital divide

Multi-stakeholder approach needed for internet governance

Key Takeaways

Global cooperation is needed to bridge the digital divide and promote digital inclusion

Cloud computing and AI are seen as foundational technologies for digital infrastructure and innovation

Efforts are needed to make digital services more accessible and user-friendly for elderly populations

Multi-stakeholder approaches involving government, industry, and civil society are important for effective internet governance

Countries need to invest in digital infrastructure to remain competitive and avoid falling behind economically

Resolutions and Action Items

Continue efforts to expand internet access and digital infrastructure globally

Develop more elderly-friendly versions of digital applications and services

Increase investment in cloud computing infrastructure, especially in developing countries

Provide more digital literacy training programs, particularly for elderly populations

Strengthen international cooperation on digital governance issues

Unresolved Issues

How to balance data sovereignty concerns with the benefits of global cloud infrastructure

Specific metrics or targets for measuring progress on bridging the digital divide

Funding mechanisms for expanding digital infrastructure in underserved regions

How to address potential job displacement from increased AI and automation

Suggested Compromises

Partnering between international tech companies and local entities to develop country-specific cloud infrastructure, as seen in the Saudi Arabia example

Developing simplified versions of digital applications alongside full-featured versions to cater to different user needs and abilities

To ensure everyone could avoid the express train of digital economy and share its benefits, it is urgent to deepen cooperation on development and governance, bridge the digital divide, and work together towards a brighter digital future.

speaker

Wang Jianchao

reason

This comment frames digital development as both an opportunity and a challenge, emphasizing the need for global cooperation to ensure equitable benefits.

impact

It set the tone for the discussion by highlighting the importance of international collaboration in addressing the digital divide, which was echoed by subsequent speakers.

We need to remember that the inclusive Internet involves all of us, and it should continue to be one that considers and hears the voices of all stakeholders who are involved and maintain and operate and use the Internet.

speaker

Theresa Swinehart

reason

This insight emphasizes the multi-stakeholder nature of internet governance and the importance of inclusivity in decision-making.

impact

It broadened the conversation beyond technical solutions to include governance structures and stakeholder participation, influencing later speakers to address inclusivity in their remarks.

Cloud allows agility and quick time to value and the other thing cloud allows is the ease of investment. So when we talk about AI and cloud today, normally I would say to customers, enterprises or public sector entities that for any AI use case, you need three months to implement. Imagine with the legacy stuff, with the legacy you need at least 18 months.

speaker

Talal Albakr

reason

This comment provides a concrete comparison between cloud and legacy systems, illustrating the practical benefits of cloud technology in accelerating digital transformation.

impact

It shifted the discussion towards the practical implications of cloud technology for businesses and governments, prompting other speakers to share specific use cases and implementation strategies.

The question I want actually to address is that are we doing enough or are we utilizing enough the beautiful digital technology for our benefits? I don’t want to ask you all this question. I’ll ask myself and say no, we are not.

speaker

Saad Haj Bakry

reason

This self-reflective question challenges the audience to consider whether current efforts to leverage digital technology are sufficient, encouraging a more critical examination of digital transformation strategies.

impact

It introduced a more critical perspective to the discussion, prompting subsequent speakers to address not just the potential of digital technologies, but also the challenges in fully realizing their benefits.

Shanghai prioritizes the elderly and disabled in the digital transformation of the city and strives to turn itself into a city with a better human touch.

speaker

Dai Lina

reason

This comment highlights a specific approach to addressing the digital divide, focusing on vulnerable populations and emphasizing the human aspect of digital transformation.

impact

It brought the discussion back to concrete, local-level initiatives and the importance of considering specific demographic needs in digital inclusion efforts.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by progressively broadening its scope from high-level principles of international cooperation to specific technological solutions, governance structures, and local implementation strategies. The conversation evolved from emphasizing the need for global collaboration to addressing practical challenges in leveraging digital technologies, and finally to considering the needs of specific populations in digital transformation efforts. This progression allowed for a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted nature of bridging the digital divide, encompassing both global and local perspectives, as well as technological and human-centered approaches.

How can we further promote universal acceptance of internationalized domain names and new top-level domains?

speaker

Theresa Swinehart

explanation

This is important to ensure a more inclusive internet that supports various languages and scripts, allowing diverse communities to fully participate online.

What are the best practices for implementing cloud-based solutions to bridge the digital divide in developing countries?

speaker

Echo Li

explanation

Understanding successful implementations can help accelerate digital infrastructure development and promote inclusiveness in underserved regions.

How can we quantify and maximize the economic impact of cloud infrastructure investments on a country’s GDP?

speaker

Talal Albakr

explanation

This research could help policymakers and investors make more informed decisions about digital infrastructure investments.

What are the most effective strategies for improving digital literacy among the elderly population?

speaker

Dai Wei

explanation

As the population ages, ensuring that older adults can effectively use digital technologies is crucial for an inclusive digital society.

How can we better measure and evaluate the intangible benefits of digital technology adoption?

speaker

Saad Haj Bakry

explanation

Understanding these benefits could help justify and prioritize digital transformation efforts.

What are the most successful AI-powered tools and applications for helping seniors overcome the digital divide?

speaker

Dai Lina

explanation

Identifying and replicating successful AI solutions could accelerate efforts to make digital technologies more accessible to older adults.